Dunbar’s no and the impact of social networking [for @josephdee @davidfeldt : re active network]

October 26, 2009

I’ve never written a post in response to a tweet before. Great concept @josephdee given I’ve got more than 140 char to share.

At #casecamp, Matt Wyndowe from Facebook labs shared Dr. Dunbar’s number 150 and that there is a new active network size of about 40 – 50.

Since then, I have spent a lot of time thinking about Dr. Dunbar’s number of 150 [the maximum size of a managed human network] and whether or not his theories have adequately accounted for the impact social networking is having on relationship management.  This led to some very interesting research findings – that basically state that Dr. Dunbar’s number still holds true – people still have relatively small ‘groomed’ or managed networks.

That said, social networking has allowed people to manage more casual relationships than ever before — enter the ‘active network’. In other words, each person can manage closer to Dr. Dunbar’s number than ever before.   Also – it is worth mentioning, although small, that there are gender differences in network sizes.  Women are more enthusiastic online communicators and so manage slightly larger active networks.

Some resources on the matter:

First – @josephdee’s post talks to a new relationship size since the advent of social networking – that is the Active facebook network:  40.

Second – A post by the Economist, “Primates on Facebook”, dated Feb 26th 2009, now behind the subscription firewall, is a great short article of  the Economist asking Facebook’s in-house sociologist, Cameron Marlowe, to review of Dr. Dunbar’s theories in light of social networking.  The conclusion is that Dr. Dunbar’s number holds firm:

“What mainly goes up..  is not the core network but the number of casual contacts that people track more passively. This corroborates Dr Marsden’s ideas about core networks, since even those Facebook users with the most friends communicate only with a relatively small number of them.”

Third – now – even better than the Economist’s article is the blog post by the actual socialologist – Cameron Marlow who answers the question “is Facebook increasing the size of people’s personal networks?”  and in the process he provides excellent visuals on the matter.

network-comparisonactive-network-size1

1 Comment | Facebook, social networks | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Laurie Dillon Schalk

The tough questions I get on the value of Social Networking

October 19, 2009

I’m in a stare down with an executive of one of Canada’s largest recruitment and placement firms.

“Why would I be on Linkedin?”

I know what he is really saying.  He has an army of staff using all the social networks, doing all the modern recruitment so he doesn’t need to.  He is retiring probably in 2 – 4 years.  He is at the top of his game.  So why would he?  Fortunately – I had an answer for him.

“So.. you strike me as someone who would probably leave a legacy after retirement.. so when you move on and head up some kind of non-profit, worthy cause – wouldn’t it be nice to be able to connect with all your contacts?     I guess more importantly, social networking is changing the entire business model, the industry, potentially profit margins for your business.   Can you really understand what is happening until you have some kind of involvement in social media?”.

So he was very receptive to my answers – I think I made him think twice.   I’m not convince I changed his actions though.

I had a similar conversation with another president – this one of an consulting firm.   He saw value but he wasn’t convinced that many CEOs are on linkedin or have time for active management – well.. you got me there.   I notice it too – executive level absence on social networks or is it just a reflection of generational divide on social networking?

Earlier though when I was talking about relationship management – he asked “why?  why would I want more connections?”.

He wasn’t being sarcastic – just realistic.  What does he have to gain in having more connections?

What I tried to impress is that on Linkedin (obviously different for other SNS) its not just about connections.  How do people choose their advisor today?  What is in their purchase criteria?  Well..  I can bet it has something to do with referrals, testimonials, track records, and client lists – all of which are on linkedin [and if you choose a public profile in your settings - you become instantly at the top of Google's pages - less so for very common names of course]

I challenged his team, who are on linkedin in various capacity, that I bet they are looked up on linkedin prior to engagement.

Now lets talk about connections.  An expanded connection list is a fantastic way to keep in touch with past clients (as the saying goes.. cheaper to get business from a past client than new client acquisition) and to know if a key influencer/decision maker has moved on to a new role.  Importantly, they can find you. Who keeps a rolodex anymore?  (I do wish I could add contact informaiton into linkedin).

I sympathize the president though.  He gets more calls for help than for value because of Linkedin.  But then, as one of his partners pointed out, he likely does not have his profile set up to set expectations.

1 Comment | linkedin, social networks | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Laurie Dillon Schalk

Authentic Vin Diesel – a beautiful voice on Facebook’s no. 3 most popular page

October 19, 2009

With 6.5 million fans, Vin Diesel comes third only after a pop icon and the president of the US.   Yup – Vin Diesel.  And I never thought I’d write something to the tune of ‘everything we need to know we can learn from Vin Diesel’ article.

I reported on the top five fan pages just a while back and I couldn’t believe that Vin Diesel was no. 3.    What – when did that happen?   I’ve always like Vin Diesel after seeing xxx but I would not figured he would surpass all other celebrities, actors, etc. in facebook fans.

vin dieselWell after becoming a fan myself – I can see.  He is doing the writing and he is authentic and responsive.   I really do think he is doing the writing.   He is really reaching his long tail of enthusiasts and updating them on movie scripts,  and sequels.  Whats more is he is engaging – he invites people to submit photos, he adds personal photos of his lunch with his father, and adds notes under every photo.

His pages are digested.   Proof?  He updates a fan about the next Riddick script coming in on the weekend and getting 15, 637 likes (and counting).  Notice how he knows how to write the post so you have to click ‘read more’ to get the big news?

When we think about how to write for social media – he really exemplifies a lot.    Open ended questions, suggestions on how to contribute, personal & authentic voice, and lots of responses to inquiries and popular requests.   Pretty neat.

Leave a Comment » | Facebook, fans / loyalty | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Laurie Dillon Schalk

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 2,571 other followers